Easy Japanese. Samuel E. Martin

Mrs. Tanaka: Excuse me. I've been very rude. A: Note at all. Her— who (is she)? Mrs. T: Her? Her—(she's) the maid.... Please (come in). A: Excuse me. Sorry. Your husband (is he here)? Mrs. T: My husand—(he's in) Ginza, shopping. I'm sorry. A: Oh? That's all right— think nothing of it. 4. A: Him—who (is he)? B: A student. A: Really? Me—(I'm) a student. B: Oh? Him—(he is) a friend (of mine). Please (let me introduce you). A: Thanks very much. Thank you. B: Not at all.... Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Andrews. Please get acquainted. T: How do you do. My compliments. A: My compliments. How do you do. T: Mr. Andrews—(are you) a teacher? A: No, a student. T: An American? A: Yes, (I'm) an American student. T: Mr. Brown—(is he) a student? A: No, him—(he's) a company employee.

      LESSON 4

       What?

Phrases
what?	nani?
cigarettes	tabako
matches	matchi
food	tabemono
bread	pan
meat	niku
vegetables	yasai
water	mizu
beer	biiru
sake (rice wine)	o-sake
milk	miruku
coffee	kōhii
Japanese tea	o-cha
black tea	kōcha
pencil	empitsu
book	hon
table	tēburu
chair	isu
clothes	f'ku
American clothes	yōf'ku
Japanese clothes	waf'ku, kimono
ticket	kippu
this one	kore
this...	kono...
that one (near you)	sore
that...	sono...
that one over there	are
that...	ano...
which one?	dore?
which...?	dono?

Practice
1.	A: Kore—nani?	B: Sore—tabako. Dōzo.
	A: Arigatō. Matchi?	B: Hai, dōzo.
	A: Sumimasen.	B: Iie.
	A: Mizu? Biiru? Miruku?	B: Miruku.
	A: Hai. Dōzo.	B: Domo.
2.	A: Ano ne.	B: Hai.
	A: Kore—nani?	B: Sore—kimono.
	A: Sōdesu ka? Yō-f'ku?	B: Iie, waf'ku.
3.	A: Kono hon—nani?	B: Sono hon— textbook (tekis'to-bukku).
4.	A: Sumimasen, kono empitsu—anata?	B: Iie, watashi—ano empitsu. Sono empit-su. dōzo, anata.
	A: Dōmo.

      Tips

      By now you find you can say a great many things with very little in the way of grammar. Just stringing the words together with appropriate pauses is enough to convey a lot of meaning. Japanese often talk this way, but they also often add various elements to make the meaning clearer. We will learn about these elements little by little. Notice that a Japanese word has a much wider, and vaguer, meaning than the corresponding English word. Tabako means not only “cigarettes” but “a cigarette,” “the cigarette,” “some cigarettes,” “a pack of cigarettes,” etc. Anata can mean “you,” “yours,” “the one you are going to use,” etc. Of course when the Japanese wants to be specific he has ways to narrow the meaning down, but usually he finds it unnecessary to be too specific. Do not worry about little English words (like a, the, some, none, it, you, me, etc.) which often do not appear in the Japanese sentences. Japanese speakers, like Japanese artists, can achieve great effects with a few nicely poised strokes—they leave all they can to your imagination. This is part of the charm.

1.	A: This—what (is it)?	B: That—(it is) cigarettes. Please (have one).
	A: Thank you. (Have you) a match?